SWOOPS 101: PLAYER DETAILS

The education continues! For those of you new to the Swoops basketball universe, let's talk about our players (aka Swoopsters).

Rather than bore you with fluffy banter, let’s get right into it.

WHAT MAKES A SWOOPSTER?

Every Swoopster possesses two distinct sets of attributes: visual and skill. Visual attributes (e.g. backgrounds, faces, species, etc.) are instantaneously unveiled at mint while skill attributes (e.g. perimeter scoring, passing, etc.) are discovered and realized over time the more you use a player.

INFINITE PLAYER COMBINATIONS

The Swoops player pool is made up of an infinite combination of physical and skill-based attributes. No two players in the Swoops universe will ever be the same.

PLAYER STAR RATING SYSTEM

Similar to real-world college sports recruiting ratings, Swoopsters are rated from one to five stars — with five being the strongest rating. Five-star ratings are given out to a small population of players while single-star ratings make up a larger portion of the player pool.

Though the higher star rating signals a higher ceiling and chance of success, five-star players are not guaranteed to have elite-level success nor are one-star players guaranteed to have modest careers.

Rarities of Prospect Ratings:
•    5 Star: 5%
•    4 Star: 10%
•    3 Star: 25%
•    2 Star: 30%
•    1 Star: 30%

PLAYER SKILL RATINGS

The DNA of a Swoopster includes 15 skill ratings that help determine performance on the court. These include: 3PT shooting, 2PT midrange shooting, 2PT interior shooting, FT shooting, offensive rebounding, defensive rebounding, passing, interior defense, perimeter defense, physicality, hustle, basketball IQ, longevity, leadership, and coachability.

Some of these are self-explanatory while some are more nuanced. It’s up to the owners to figure out how they all interact and how they impact a player’s value. Each rating operates on a 30 to 100 scale with 100 always being “the best.”

UNREVEALED SKILL RATINGS

You will quickly realize that most Swoopsters do not have all 15 skill ratings revealed. In fact, rookie Swoopsters come in with only one skill revealed and 14 unrevealed. Unrevealed skills are displayed as ??. You’ll have to play your Swoopster in some games to get a feel for the type of player and how good they are. For every year of experience, one additional skill will reveal. So a 5-season veteran, for example, will have 5 skills revealed, and a 7-season veteran will have 7 skills revealed.

TOP-3 SKILL RATINGS

You will also notice that every Swoopster has three skills that are colored gold, along with a small trophy next to that respective skill. This indicates that these attributes, which can be revealed or unrevealed, are currently one of the top three skill ratings for that player. This is valuable information to start to put together the puzzle that is a Swoopster.

PLAYER AGING

All players experience aging at the end of each season (during week 13). When a Swoopster is assembled in the Swoops Factory, it's embedded with DNA that carry genetic instructions for its development, functioning, and growth.

There are two key components of aging:
•    Skill progression along a player's development curve;
•    And skill reveal for a previously unrevealed attribute.

A Swoopster is assigned a prospect rating along with a unique combination of skill attributes. This prospect rating serves as a proxy for a player's floor and ceiling and also affects the rate of progression along the development curve.

While the prospect rating is a revealed characteristic, the development curve is not and remains hidden. It is determined at birth and dictates the base speed of progression and regression. Although there is a base development rate, users may be able to impact player development via a few means (e.g. usage, etc.).

That's enough learning for one day, we'll see you all on the court!